Trade reforms to open up e-commerce to more SMEs

Significant trade reforms are needed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) benefit from the Internet as a platform for e-commerce and international trade, according to a study released recently.

The study, entitled “Supporting the Internet as a Platform for International Trade,” cites a host of global barriers critical to the movement of goods and services transacted online.

Its key recommendations include reforming customs procedures, raising the de minimis level on goods of low value, allowing the free flow of data across borders, securing an international payment system and method for dispute settlement, and ensuring a level playing field to allow for competitive international delivery services

The research study states that international regulatory barriers create transactions costs for trading online which “can quickly overwhelm the economics” of the transaction itself.

This, it added, can result in trade frictions such as delays in customs, which while costly for all forms of international trade, “can become complete barriers to online international trade.”

The study found that the key to both the movement of intermediate goods and the ability for SMEs to become part of the global supply chain is an efficient and cost-effective logistics network, saying: “Inefficient and costly transportation systems and administrative costs associated with customs are particularly significant barriers to SME exports.”

“We see firsthand everyday how international trade rules need to be modernized for online e-commerce for our global SME customers and consumers,” said Michael Ducker, president of the international division of FedEx Express.

The paper was written by J. Meltzer, a fellow at the Global Economy and Development Program of Brookings Institution, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., in the U.S. The research was funded by FedEx and Ebay.